Help with 1949 Knappogue Castle Whiskey

I unfortunately know nothing about whiskey, but am helping to deal with my grandfather's estate, including his collection of wines and liquors. Does anyone have any advice on how to go about selling (in the States)? I only know that they are worth quite a bit - for example he had a bottle of Knappogue Castle Whiskey that was put down in 1949 and bottled in 1985:http://picasaweb.google.com/Cara.Maureen/Whiskey#

Re: Help with 1949 Knappogue Castle Whiskey

Yes this bottle is one privately bottled by Mark E Andrews from a collection of casks he purchased while he was in Ireland. The 1949 Knappogue is a 36 year old from the Tullamore distillery. These were normally imported by Austin ,Nichols & Co. NYC for Mr Andrews. Subsequently he set up a company to sell and bottle this whiskey, the first commercial bottling was the Knappogue Castle 1951 also a 36 year old. Could you let us know what strength (ABV) the bottle is.

Re: Help with 1949 Knappogue Castle Whiskey

Brgreat5 wrote:Yes this bottle is one privately bottled by Mark E Andrews from a collection of casks he purchased while he was in Ireland. The 1949 Knappogue is a 36 year old from the Tullamore distillery. These were normally imported by Austin ,Nichols & Co. NYC for Mr Andrews. Subsequently he set up a company to sell and bottle this whiskey, the first commercial bottling was the Knappogue Castle 1951 also a 36 year old. Could you let us know what strength (ABV) the bottle is.

I own and enjoy one of the commercial bottlings of the 1951.Taste wise, this bottling is phenomenal always getting top marks from every whisky writer. I would imagine the 1949 private bottling, given it was hand picked, would be very similar. It cost me $ 600 about 5 years ago, so as a low benchmark I would say "not less than $600". Hope this helps.

Re: Help with 1949 Knappogue Castle Whiskey

Thank you all so much for your help. I need to take a clearer picture of the 1949 label for the person who asked me to via pm, but for others who might be curious:

The place where the abv is listed originally said 92 Proof, and then it looks like someone used a typewriter to write \\\\\\\ across that and type 42% below. Another difference between it and the 1951 bottles I have is that the 1949 says 4/5 Quart (as opposed to 750 ml. on the 1951 bottles.)

The 1949 label reads "A very special reserve of unblended, pot still, pure malt 36 years of age put down in 1949 bottled in bond in 1985 bottle no 116 Cask No. 8 Produced exclusively for the Hon. Mark Edwin Andrews Knappogue Castle Co. Clare Ireland." (whereas the 1951 label reads "a very special reserve of pure pot still whiskey 36 years of age, etc.).

The number "36" the year "1959" and Cask No. "8" are all entered in by typewriter, and Bottle No. 116 is written in red pen.

The final differences I se are the shapes of the bottle (the 1949 is shorter and wider) and the label itself (the 1949 label is all black, where as "Knappogue Castle" and the Omnia Bona Bonis crest are gold on the 1951 label).

Thank you again for your help, and any other insights would be greatly appreciated.